Town Council enthusiastically supported the Bonnyville Daycare’s request for expansion at Tuesday’s meeting as their number of kids has nearly doubled in the past six months.
Executive Director Kim Harvie reported that the daycare has 39 kids enrolled right now and 45 signed up for April, a massive increase from 25 in October. She said this is a good sign for the local economy as a whole, with more parents being at work during the day. The space in the Parent-Child Centre the daycare uses is simply too small and their request was expand into a multi-purpose room within the building. Harvie said it only gets used about 25 percent of time time at the moment, mainly as overflow for the Parent Link program.
Council was receptive to the proposal, with Councillor Jim Cheverie particularly vocal in his support. “We all know that a driving force behind economic development is young families moving into the Town of Bonnyville. With our oil patch sector supporting young families, it’s all about kids. One of the primary calls that parents make when they’re contemplating a move to Bonnyville is where the schools are and the next question is ‘Do you have a daycare? Is it a safe, approved licensed daycare?’ and we do. If that requires expansion I can support that a hundred percent. We all know happy children make happy families that make a happy community. So Mr. Mayor, I support this expansion wholeheartedly.”